Mr. Mahmoud Farshchian, Iran's leading contemporary painter, was born in Isfahan in 1929. His father was a carpet merchant, and he was instrumental in instilling a love of the visual arts in his son.

From an early age, young Mahmoud decided to take up art as a career. For several years he studied with Masters Haji Mirza Aqa Emami and Isa Bahadori at the Isfahan school of Fine Arts.

After his graduation, he traveled abroad to study firsthand the works of the great masters of Western art. When he returned to Iran, he already carried in his head ideas for a new type of painting, a painting that was traditional and yet international.

Mahmoud Farshchian worked for a number of years in the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Arts and he was invited to teach at the School of Fine Arts at Tehran University. At the same time, he began to paint seriously, turning out works of great artistry and beauty, which soon won him many admirers, not only in Iran but also in other countries.

Master Farshchian has held 37 one-man exhibitions of his works so far, in Iran, in Europe and Asian countries, and in the United States, not counting the 62 group exhibitions in which he has also participated. And he has met with the enthusiastic response of the viewers wherever his works have gone on display.

Master Farshchian has developed his own style within the larger framework of Persian painting. While adhering to the fundamental traditions of the art, he has succeeded through the use of innovative techniques, to expand the capacity of Persian painting for artistic expression.

A typical Farshchian painting represents a pleasant mélange of traditionalism and innovation; while he continues the "Persian miniature" tradition with softly undulating lines, brilliant colors and delicate compositions, he breaks fresh ground with his choice of subject-matter, thus surpassing the old stereotypes.